Archive for April, 2008

It’s full of idiots. “Costas Now” ran a special last night with various panelists, from bloggers to self absorbed writers. I am not going to delve into some of the idiotic rants that attacked the blogosphere. You can read about that here or even here. Apparently, some media members feel there is a war that needs to be waged against blogs. According to some members, blogs are ruining the media world. I think the biggest takeaway from the special last night is that the media is taking out their big guns, and shooting themselves in the foot.

The platform for the discussion was divided in to 5 segments; internet, radio, television, media/athlete relationship, and race. The topics discussed in these segments ranged from the credentials that one needs to have in order to discuss sports (Mitch Albom), I didn’t know that people needed credentials for their opinion, to the racism and its ever present existence. In the interest of full disclosure, we only caught the final three segments. Like many should do, we will stick to what we know. The segments were laughable, with the exception of a few bright spots.

Starting with television, Mike Tirico, Joe Buck, and Dan Patrick discussed nothing for 20 minutes. Tirico, although intelligent was too afraid to say anything against his employer, ESPN. Costas raised several valid points ranging from Mel Kiper’s 50,000th mock draft on the crawl, to one sided reporting, to the separation of news and sports casting. When the panelists countered with hard hitting questions about Costas’ own objectivity, regarding NBC and the Olympics, he side stepped any real opinion. Patrick was mainly useless, but had a few one-liners of note. Joe Buck really isn’t relevant.

The media/athlete discussion revolved around the lack of authenticity in writing. The panelists consisted of Tiki Barber (idiot), John McEnroe (bumbling idiot), and Selena Roberts (most intelligent of the night). The main sentiment appeared to be that reporters are no longer close enough to the athletes to produce valid representation of the stars. I agree that there is a large disconnect between the two classes, but I would suggest that is due mainly to the athletes. Tiki, and other athletes, blame media for their jealousy of the player’s ability and wealth, and the incessant need for writers to “make a name for themselves.” Of course, Tiki doesn’t realize that he is currently a member of the media, and is probably jealous that his former team now stands as world champions. Yes, this is opinion, I am sorry I am only a lowly blogger, but Tiki made his jealousy of the Giants quite evident throughout the year with questions of Eli’s leadership, criticism of Tom Coughlin, and standing on the sideline of the Bucs rather than the Giants in the playoffs. If anyone is trying to make a name for themselves in the media, it is Tiki Barber. Tiki claimed that many pieces that are written are negative, and is just a lowly writer’s attempt at getting on PTI. I know that Tiki has been on PTI more than one of our favorite writers, Kevin Kernan. There are many positive pieces that are written, but that is not what outlets, like ESPN and Fox Sports, pick up on. Just because positive pieces don’t get the attention, doesn’t mean that they don’t exist. Hours devoted to Vick’s incarceration are what the main stream media has deemed important.

Selena Roberts was one of the bright spots of the night. Selena raised a personal anecdote from her dealings with superstar athletes. Selena recounted a tale about when she was trying to write a positive piece on the relationship between Jay-Z and Lebron James. She was cut-off by the entourage, tinted windows, and negative attitudes. Here is a reporter looking for that personal experience, but can’t even get close enough to the player to write such a piece. After countless attempts for an interview, eventually the questions were e-mailed to Lebron, and he recorded his answers. These answers were e-mailed back to Selena. It is her opinion, and I agree, that these athletes are on a whole different level, financially and personally, and don’t associate with the media like they did in an earlier time. Although, I do think that Selena would have an easier time getting an interview in the Giants locker room, than Tiki.

The final segment that we viewed centered around race. Race isn’t usually a fun topic to debate. I think that some points were foolish (Kellen Winslow Sr.), and some were extremely intelligent (Jason Whitlock). One point that I don’t get is the comparison of Lebron, on the “Vogue” cover, to King Kong, and Giselle to the “blonde haired all American damsel in distress.” Last time I checked, Giselle is from Brazil, is a latina, and isn’t even blonde. Jason Whitlock and Michael Wilbon made very valid points regarding the ability to write about racial lines. It is not something that everyone can do, and one needs to have a history of speaking about it intelligently in order to be taken seriously on the subject. It was clear that Costas was very uncomfortable during this segment, and I look forward to seeing the upcoming special regarding race in sports. I would have also like to have heard Whitlock’s completed thoughts regarding his opinions about Barry Bonds, and his resignation from ESPN.

In the end, this is my opinion. Main stream media (“MSM”) is suffering because of the inability to adapt, and the elitist attitude of networks, and those in the upper-echelon of the media world (Costas). There are a number of high profile media members that we do respect (Phil Simms, Boomer Esiason, and I can’t think of anymore right now), but the fact that Bob Costas could be so pretentious to hold such a special is exactly what is wrong with the media. What is wrong, is people that are too full of themselves. Let the athletes be the cocky ones. Let them say that writers don’t belong, and might not even have an athletic bone in their bodies. They have earned that right, and the writer has earned the right to rip on that athlete for a poor performance. Bob Costas does not have the right, nor anyone else for that matter, to say that people shouldn’t have their opinion, from blogger to Tiki Barber, if there is a platform to say it, everyone should be encouraged to speak up. Here at Awesomo, we will continue our best efforts to speak up about any and everything we want.

Padres 4, Philly 7; Ace Cole Hammels did his job. Hammels pitched 7 1/3 allowing only 2 runs. Hammels is batting an impressive .313 from the left side of the plate as well. Maddux was once again denied his 350th win. It really doesn’t pay to be on the Padres (10-17). The Padres are 9 back in the west, and it is probably time to call it a season, thanks for playing.

Braves 3, Nationals 6; With 4 runs in the 7th, the Nationals were able to break a 2-2 tie. Both teams are sorry, and with Smoltz heading to the DL, possibly making your best starter a closer is not the answer.

Pirates 4, Mets 5; After some poor defense and a wild pitch in the 9th, the Mets blew the win for Johan, but then they went and totally redeemed themselves with a win in the 11th off of the bat of David Wright.

Dodgers 7, Marlins 6; The Dodgers are actually trying to compete for the NL West. Yes they are 5 1/2 back, and yes the D-backs are nasty, but at least they are showing effort. Jeff Kent, quietly one of the best offensive second basemen ever, knocked in the go ahead run in the top of the 9th.

Brew Crew 10, Cubbies 7; Although new to the team, Mike Cameron was aware that Eric Gag-me was the closer. Cameron added to the 4 runs in the last 3 frames for the Brewers in his first game back from suspension. The 3 run lead was enough wiggle room for Eric Gag-me, and the Brewers won.

Reds 2, Cards 7; The Cardinals put up 7 runs in the first two innings off of super rookie Johnny Cueto. This makes me happy because the people in my fantasy league got him before I did. Now they are paying the price. The Cards are 17-11.

Astros 6, Arizona 4; The Astros beat the unreal D-backs, which made the rest of the NL happy. Unfortunately, the D-backs managed to get better in this game by unleashing Max Scherzer. He had 7 K’s in 4 innings.

Rockies 3, Giants 2; Tim Lincecum suffered his first loss of the season. The rest of the NL West continues to play baseball, but Awesomo is unsure why.

Awesomo has plenty of thoughts on the state of the media address last night, but we will get to those later. Now it is time to focus on things that we enjoy, like cupcakes and baseball.

Blue Jays 0, Red Sox 1; Halladay pitched a gem, 4th complete game in a row (lost the last 3), but didn’t get the victory because he the fastest slow guy, David Ortiz, chugged around for the winning run. Lester, coming off one of his worse starts of the year, tossed 8 innings and gave up 1 hit. Mighty Mouse made a terrific diving stop in the top of the 9th.

Rays 4, O’s 7; The battle for the AL East starts and stops with the Rays/O’s. Garrett Olson, making the spot start, shutdown the youngins of the Rays. Aubrey Huff went Yahtzee, and the O’s are tied atop the East with the Sox.

Tiggers 6, Yanks 4; Looks like the Twins made a good decision by not pulling the trigger on the Hughes/Kennedy for Johan deal. The youngin’s have sucked, combined 8.75 era and 0-6. NY sits at .500, but Arod to the DL and Jorge looking bleak, is not a good sign. Cano hit a homer, and the Yankees will need the bats of their middle infielders to heat up if they want to keep pace in the AL East. The Tigers sit at 12-15, but are starting to click on offense.

M’s 7, Indians 2; The Indians have an identical record of the Tigers, and just can’t seem to right the ship. The M’s scored 5 in the top of the 9th, including a 3-run homer by Beltre. Fantasy geeks have hated Joe Borowski, but a guy that just gets the job done maybe isn’t bad to have in the back of the bullpen.

Royals 9, Rangers 5; Jose Guillen hit this ball really far away from home plate. Other than that, this game was very boring.

A’s 0, TLAAofA 2; There is a tie back on top of the AL West. Joe Saunders pitched 8 innings, gave up 4 hits, and 0 runs. Greg Smith had a similar outing, going 8, giving up only 3 hits, but earned the loss thanks to a messy 3rd inning.

“Damn baby all I need is a lil bit, a lil bit of this, a lil bit of that.” Awesomo may not spit it like 50 cent but we would definitely want a little bit of that. That long legged beauty is former model Michelle Merkin. This is this first we have seen of her and hopefully not the last. Michelle was last seen hosting The Extreme Sand Sculpting Championships. Let’s hope she was in a bikini the whole time.

Ladies and Gentlemen finally awesomo has come back to Boob Tube Time. We apologize for that opening; we have spent many hours watching youtube videos of the Rock. Well here, we go again with another demoralizing night of television. What we have learned by doing this segment is not a damn thing. I’m not going to rant about how bad tvland is right now. Instead, grab yourself some beers and ogle at hot chicks all night while you watch “The Ultimate Coyote Ugly Search.” The drunker you get the more you think that these girls are flirting with you because they care and not for tips.

CW: 9:00pm-10:00pm Reaper (Missy Peregrym is smokin)CMT: 8:00pm-10:00pm The Ultimate Coyote Ugly Search (alcohol and hot chicks)HBO: 10:00pm-11:30pm Costas Now (normally we would never watch this, but he will be talking about blogs and their relevance)

Keeping up our efforts to spread the love for NCAA baseball, Awesomo is back with college baseball action. There was some shuffling of the top 10, check last weeks recap for the previous rankings, and check USA Today for the current top 25. Below, we have the top 10, and some other teams of note throughout the college baseball world.

1.) Miami 36-5: The #1 team throughout the land remains atop the standings. They lost to FIU during the week, but it was considered a moral victory because a brawl didn’t breakout. The Miami sweep of Virginia, including 2 shutouts, was enough to keep them in first.2.) UNC 38-8: The Tar Heels defeated conference rival FSU in the weekend series. Taking 2 of 3 from the ‘Noles. The victories were enough to vault MJ’s alma mater to first place. We here at Awesomo just can’t figure out why Jordan’s baseball career never took off. Perhaps the Italians know.3.) FSU 35-7: The Seminoles came a bases loaded walk, in the 10th inning, away from being the #2 team in the nation. Unfortunately, they did walk in the winning run, which is something that Awesomo has always found pathetic. How can a team give up a walk-off walk.4.) ASU 35-7: After splitting the series with #18 Cal State-Fullerton, the Sun Devils swept conference rival #21 California in impressive offensive fashion. ASU has scored no fewer that 10 runs in the past 7 contests. Don’t tell this team that defense wins championships. ASU is now tied for first int he PAC-10 with Stanford.5.) Texas A&M 37-7: The Aggies have won 15 straight conference games, including this weekends series sweep of former #10 Mizzou.6.) Rice 34-11: The Owls have won 15 of 16, and barely escaped with 2 victories this weekend against UCF. Rice faces only a test against Texas A&M before the conference tournament begins. A win there will make an impression for seeding come postseason time.7.) Nebraska 32-8-1: The Huskers jumped one spot after taking 2 of 3 from the Baylor Bears. With games against Texas A&M and Mizzou coming up, this team has a lot to prove. Joba could have used one of these last October.8.) Wichita State 33-9: The Shockers had a chance to impress this week, but lost a close game to the Cowboys during the middle of the week.9.) OSU 32-11: Speaking of the Cowboys, they have won 9 in a row, including wins over Texas, Wichita State, and Kansas. I guess large donations like this, enable you to have sick uniforms like this…

10.) UC Irvine 28-10: Rounding out the top 10 is UC Irvine. Awesomo doesn’t even know what their mascot is, but Awesomo does know that they swept New Mexico over the weekend, and appear to have a very soft schedule down the stretch. Without any real threats, this team should rattle off a nice win streak to end the season. Turns out they are Anteaters, which doesn’t strike fear in the heart of anyone.

Other awesome highlights

11.) San Diego 35-11: The Toreros continued their winning ways by sweeping Loyola Marymount, and beating the Dirtbags. They have now won 16 in a row. Their toughest remaining opponent comes tonight versus Cal State-Fullerton. The Toreros haven’t given up more than 4 runs in their past 8 games, and they are one of our favorite teams right now.18.) Cal State-Fullerton 26-15: The Titans are the team with the worst record in the top 25. They split the series with ASU, which is impressive, and a win tonight against San Diego could put this team in position to be in the top 10 come the end of the season.23.) Long Beach State 26-15: Again, what is a college baseball recap without the Dirtbags. They are tied with the Titans for the worst record in the top 25, but the committee agrees with us, and feels that the Dirtbags need to be in the top 25. A sweep this weekend also didn’t hurt. The season ends against Cal State-Fullerton in a few weeks, and that will go a long way in determining where this So Cal team ends up.162.) Rider University 24-16: Awesomo’s favorite team, the Broncs, have won 7 of 9 including a series sweep against conference foe the Niagara Purple Eagles. The victories have caused Rider to vault 21 spots in RPI, and into second for the MAAC.

It looks like somebody had a case of the “Mondays.” That somebody was mother nature. Rain outs and travel days make Awesomo’s life a little easier on this Tuesday morning. Due to the light schedule, you get all of your baseball action in one jam packed session of The Show…

O’s 3, White Sox 3; Due to MLB rules, although this is an official game, play has been suspended in the top of the 12th, and will resume at a later date. The O’s could have put this game away in the 11th, but a bomb from Juan Uribe in the bottom of the 11th tied the game, and sent play to another day.

Reds 4, Cardinals 3; Bronson Arroyo won his first game of the year, but this ESPN article states that he is 3-1. Good thing they proof read over at the 4 letter.

Yankees 5, Indians 2; The Yankees prevailed in this game. Some how Mike Mussina got the win, even though he didn’t break 85 mph, and somehow Aaron Laffey got the loss even though he only gave up 3 hits. Some poor defensive strategy cost the Indians this game, and some people maintain that Eric Wedge just might be an idiot. Arod is going to sit again as the hamstring is acting up.

D-backs 5, Astros 3; It turns out that the Diamondbacks are really good, and they proved that by sending back-up ace, Dan Haren, to the mound. Haren went 7 2/3, gave up 3 runs, 5 hits, and had 5 K’s. Chad Qualls faced 1 batter, and that was a strikeout of the last remaining killer B, Lance Berkman.

Rockies 0, Giants 4; In case you didn’t know, the Giants sent former CY Young winner, and Ace, Barry Zito to the bullpen. Making him the highest paid mop up man in history. In good news for the Giants, this opens the door for a real ace, Matt Cain. Cain won for the first time since August 28th. Suprisingly, the Giants are in 3rd in the NL West, but will never catch the D-backs.

Also, Awesomo are huge fans of TO. The Eagles really are a bunch of pansies.

“I got this Spanish chica, she don’t like me to roam so she call me cabron plus marricon.Said she likes to cook rice so she likes me home I’m like, “Un momento” – mami, slow up your tempo” In reality awesomo would do anything Eva Mendez asked us to. Our love for sports would seriously be in jeopardy. Fortunately, for Jay-Z he owns a sports team, married Beyonce and also delivers a knockout punch in the King James fued.

The weather here on the east is terrible and that means we will be staying in watching television until our brains melt. Unfortunately, the people who run television also have the same problem. They have zero brains. Except for ESPN, because they are allowing all of the people who don’t get the YES network to watch the New York Yankees. Forget I just complemented ESPN; damn my brain already started its descent. *Disclaimer: If you are watching either the YES Network or ESPN broadcast of the Yankees do not have the volume on.

In the immortal words of Shane Falco, one of Awesomo’s favorites, “I wish I could say something classy and inspirational, but that just wouldn’t be our style. Pain heals. Chicks dig scars. Glory… lasts forever.” You motivated the shit out of me Falco. The pain of this first round is almost over. Talk is cheap, and to the action we move.

Cleveland 100 – Washington 97: King James allows one of his subjects (Delonte West) to fire the game-winning shot as the Cavs roll to a 3-1 series lead. Cleveland shot well behind the arc and out-rebounded the Wizards 51-31.

Detroit 93 – Philadelphia 84: It’s kind of hard not to root for Philly in the face of such arrogance in Detroit. Anybody else think that $5 foot-long commercial from Subway sucks?

New Orleans 97 – Dallas 84: Time is running out for the Mavs and J-Kidd is a little frustrated. If you actually prevent the Hornets from scoring baskets you might have a shot at some fast-break points.

Phoenix 105 – San Antonio 86: Where was this intensity in the other games? Phoenix staved off elimination with a dominant performance yesterday. They played like a team that had nothing to lose. Shaq (above) contributed well to the win with 14 points, 12 boards, and 6-10 from the charity stripe. However, I’m not sure that uniform is regulation. And in case you forgot just how big Shaq is, take a look at this.